PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was going to be 23-year-old Endy Rodriguez’s position, until a season-ending injury playing Winter Ball. Now the Pirates catching position, while it has options, doesn’t have a player it can count on entering the 2024 season.
A new name reportedly added to the mix has experience. Yasmani Grandal was, years ago, a tremendous defensive catcher with power in his bat. Back in 2019, Grandal was an All-Star who got votes for MVP. He played in 153 games that season with 28 home runs and 26 doubles with a .468 slugging percentage and .380 OBP. He also had a .993 fielding percentage in 137 games behind the plate throwing out 27 runners trying to steal. In 2021, he would hit 23 home runs in just 93 games with a .520 slugging percentage.
The Grandal the Pirates signed to a one-year deal is coming off two seasons of combined 13 home runs over 217 games with just 21 doubles. The switch-hitter had a .339 slugging percentage and .309 on base percentage in 118 games with the White Sox last year. While a fielding percentage of .995, his defensive runs saved, which was 18 back in 2017 with the Dodgers, was minus 11 with Chicago, by far the worst of his career.
2021 first-round pick Henry Davis will catch this year. He has caught two innings in the majors even when opportunities presented itself. The numbers in the minors don’t speak to catching being his future which is why they played him almost exclusively in right field, even though he only played 32 games in the outfield in the minors. The right-hand hitting Davis wasn’t selected first overall for his glove, his bat will put him in the lineup somewhere.
Jason Delay quietly played solid offensively for the Bucs last year. The 28-year-old right-hander hit .319 in 70 games. He only threw out 11% of the runners stealing against him with a .989 fielding percentage. If he was their regular catcher, he would have been a minus 14 in runs saved.
Their best defensive catcher is already on the 40-man roster with Delay and Davis, free-agent signee Ali Sanchez. The 27-year-old only has seven games of MLB experience, but in his minor league career has thrown out 43% of the runners trying to steal on him and had a .998 fielding percentage in 2023. The right-handed hitter had his best offensive season last year at AAA Reno, 11 homers in 67 games, batting .311 although it’s in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Make fun of Austin Hedges all you want for his lack of hitting, but he helped instill a base for the young catchers. Maybe Grandal can do that with his words more than his actions at this point in his career. But with a pitching staff expected to add youth as the season progresses, it’s not starting with quality help behind the plate.